Corals dropping like flies!

[pheasant29]

Well some of you know I was fighting a stray voltage problem! I got the grounding probe and it now reads 0.00 volts. The problem I am having is, all my corals are dying. They started looking bad before i got the grounding probe. My mushrooms started first then the flowerpot and then brain. Well this morning i took the flowerpot and the brain out. They were to far gone. The flowerpot stunk to high heaven.The mushrooms are still alive but looking ruff and now the button polyps are looking bad as well.My emerald crabs are dying as well. I have lost two of the four I had.
My water is testing good. As of two days ago and before a 8 gallon water change.
temp-80
salinity-1.24
ammonia-0.0
nitrite-0.0
nitrate-0.0
phos.-.25
ph did drop from 8.0 to 7.8

I will test again tonight when i get home from work. I am also planning another 8 gallon water change. All the fish seem to be ok. Do you guys have any other suggestions?

 

[OhNoNemo]

Sorry to hear about that.....I'm very new to the coral side and i'm pretty much just rolling with it...but i'm getting alittle nervous now...1st BL1 and now you are having some of the hardier corals dropping dead:12:

 

[cageburn]

my guess is the ammonia is going way up try testing again there has to be something out of wack for this to be happening. Im sorry this is happening to you :\, i mmyself just lost a colony of deepwater fruitloops, am definitly not pleased about that.

 

[pheasant29]

my guess is the ammonia is going way up try testing again there has to be something out of wack for this to be happening. Im sorry this is happening to you :\, i mmyself just lost a colony of deepwater fruitloops, am definitly not pleased about that.

I am testing again tonight.I am hoping that these are still effects from the stray volts. I'm not sure! From what i have read stray volts can do some bad damage to corals. I am hoping they were to far gone and i can get this turned around! I dont think i have ever been this downhearted over my tank before! If any body has suggestions .I am listening.

 

[Bifferwine]

I suspect you are right -- that they were already dying from the voltage. You only got the probe a couple days ago, right? Perhaps they'd been suffering for a while and you didn't know it.

But I also agree that that kind of die off could easily harm the other animals in the tank.

Do you have enough flow in your tank?

 

[daugherty]

did you find the source of the voltage? if not the current is still going into the tank. it will be going to the ground but will travel through the water to the ground prob.

 

[pheasant29]

I suspect you are right -- that they were already dying from the voltage. You only got the probe a couple days ago, right? Perhaps they'd been suffering for a while and you didn't know it.

But I also agree that that kind of die off could easily harm the other animals in the tank.

Do you have enough flow in your tank?

I hope i am right. Flow should not be a problem. I have 2 koralia nanos running behind my rocks. 2 koralias #3 facing up and towards the front of the tank. Plus an overflow to the sump and a HOB filter. I am running carbon in both the overflow and HOB filter for now. I will do a water change and tests tonight.

 

[pheasant29]

did you find the source of the voltage? if not the current is still going into the tank. it will be going to the ground but will travel through the water to the ground prob.

The source of my volts is everything I am running!!!! With out the probe i read 24 to 30 volts. Not one thing is doing it. But each pump, filter and heater are contributing 3 to 6 volts. This thing is about to get the best of me!

 

[Bifferwine]

did you find the source of the voltage? if not the current is still going into the tank. it will be going to the ground but will travel through the water to the ground prob.

He has the same situation that I do -- everything is leaking a little bit. It's not one thing.

 

[daugherty]

ohh that is crappy. i wish i knew what to say to help make it better

 

[pheasant29]

I am home for lunch. I tested the water again. Everything is the same except for Nitrates. I read it the yote way. (api test and read down from the top) It showed up at 20. This still shouldent be causing me these kind of troubles should it? I am seeing extra algae tho. Not alot just some on the glass.

 

[yote]

While 20ppm of nitrates aint that bad for fish,it can be lethal to corals and inverts.

 

[reeffreak]

The source of my volts is everything I am running!!!! With out the probe i read 24 to 30 volts. Not one thing is doing it. But each pump, filter and heater are contributing 3 to 6 volts. This thing is about to get the best of me!

He has the same situation that I do -- everything is leaking a little bit. It's not one thing.

How can that be possible?

You people recently had me so worried that I tested my water and I have no ground probe.Thank God it read zero and I did go buy a ground probe to be on the safe side.

 

[Bifferwine]

How can that be possible?

You people recently had me so worried that I tested my water and I have no ground probe.Thank God it read zero and I did go buy a ground probe to be on the safe side.

I had about 50 volts total. 10 from my return pump, 10 from my skimmer pump, 10 from my refugium pump, and 5 from each of my four powerheads. Altogether, 50 volts.

 

[reeffreak]

Yeah,I heard you two Biff.There has to be something wrong(I'm baffled) if they are throwing volts.It can't be normal(or is it) for equipment to do this?

 

[Bifferwine]

Apparently it is normal. Anytime you put anything electrical in water, you run that risk. And a lot of times, they are not perfectly sealed.

 

[bjohanson1234]

Also, pumps are coils of wire. The leaking voltage might be an induced voltage

 

[irensing]

It might be worth checking the current flow to ground. Your multi-meter should have an AC current setting. Put it in series with the tank the ground probe. Just attach one lead to the ground probe (outside of the tank water) and the other meter lead in the tank. It's not uncommon to have each of your devices leaking a little bit. When I had this problem I replaced the main contributors. I have even had lighting fixtures with horrible radiated EMI that would induce a 60Khz and 100Khz voltage in my tank depending on which power supply was on. Have you check the stray voltage with the lights off? You should have a frequency setting on the multi-meter also. Anything 60Hz would be your power heads, heater and pump. Anything in the 50Khz-100Khz range would be from a device fed by a switching power supply such as UV or lighting. I'm not sure how the frequency could play into coral health.